Wymic the Wyrde
by Zepyrcat
Summary: This is a sort of pre-hogwarts story. Its a little snip of where lycanthropy comes from. Its going to be one of the small stories that will eventually be part of another story.


_Ok this will eventually be part of another story but just thought I would post this here. I got the idea from Bobmin about the source of lycanthropy. _

Exert from a story my old gaffer used to tell us kids when the Adults weren't around.

The year was 2145 BC by today's calendar, they really didn't count the days back in that time like it is done today. But as I was saying, there was a wizard; not a very good one but he thought he was better then he was, the wizard's name was Wymic but the villagers near his home knew him as Wymic the Wyrde. His name came from the fact that weird noises and weird creatures seemed to abound near the wizard's home. The villagers knew that to bother him would be bad; all prior attempts to make him leave had resulted in the men sent disappearing with even weirder noises coming from his home. No, no one wanted to meet Wymic either in a group or alone. But a few brave (or more like stupid if you asked me) boys decided to try and spy on what Wymic was doing each night.

These boys (idiots if you asked me {gather} hmph) snuck up to a window to spy on the wizard. Now in those days they didn't have glass or ofter even a parchment cover for the windows mostly just a pelt hung over the window to reduce the drafts (and a spell or two as well). The boys could look into the room from above where Wymic worked. Around the room weird creatures could be found: a snake with three heads (early Runespoor), a strange pinkish misty creature that hugged the shadows closely (early Boggart), a strange frog-like little person that had a small red spot on its head (early Clabbert), a lizard that kept shrinking a growing in size (early Moke), a greyish fluff of fur that seemed to be every where leaving a swipe of clean in the room's filth (early Puffskein), and many more creatures. You see Wymic considered himself to be an innovator. Mostly he was lazy and his creations were made to do the chores he wouldn't do himself.

The boys goggled at the strange creatures but were too scared to make any noise. They watched as Wymic worked on a potion near a small wolf kept in an iron cage. The wolf seemed to be very lethargic and drool dripped from its mouth for it lay on its side. Wymic was very preoccupied with his work and didn't seem to notice the movement of the other creatures within his home. All seemed to be moving away from the were the wolf was located. Shivers seemed to rock the wolf's body and small whines could be heard coming from the animal. What Wymic had failed to realize was that the wolf had been bitten earlier that day by a rabid raccoon and now was feeling the virus' affects.

With a puff of smoke and a strange pinging sound the potion was finished. With a wave of his wand the cauldron lifted from the fire and hovered over the caged beast. Soft growls could now be heard from the wolf but these were ignored by Wymic as he pored the potion over the unfortunate animal. Were the potion touched the wolf turned silver, not in color but true silver: living silver. The beast was to be a decorative guardian to Wymic's home. All of the potion was absorbed by the wolf for none of it reached the floor. A shuddered wracked the wolf's body and the eyes turned to a deep yellowish hue. Madness could be viewed within; a sight that terrified the watching boys even further into immobility.

With a smirk on his face, Wymic turned to admire his latest creation. The wolf rose to its feet and the cage rocked with the beast's movement. Wymic clapped his hands happily; yes, yes this creature was one of his best to date. With a sigh Wymic turned to clean up his potion area, tossing bits of animal potion ingredients to the wolf. These were snapped up hungrily and the wolf grew slightly in size. Wymic turned to his notes ready to work on his next creation. Retiring for the night after many hours, Wymic snuffed the torches around the room and climbed the stairs to his bed chambers. Behind him the wolf's eyes glowed with an eery yellowish gleam. Growling could be heard from the beast as the boys climbed down from their perch. Running back to their village; still fascinated by Wymic's actions they would return in a few days time.

Days passed in Wymic's home as he puttered with each new idea that came into his warped brain. Food was tossed to the wolf; though if one looked closely you could see the remains of one of the Clabberts to one side of the cage. The wolf look stiff and moved jerkily around what little room the cage offered. The boys had returned to their watching post and now looked down into the room. Few if any of the creatures they had seen before remained in the room having escaped as soon as they could. Even the few that remained stayed well clear of the silver wolf's cage. One curious Clabbert being the exception.

Wymic had suffered through many failures since his last success and his listless movements echoed the chaos in his mind. An idea had come to him though and he wanted to work on the ritual soon. The full moon would rise in just two days and he had a lot to work on until then. He cleared an area to use for the ritual and began to carefully chalk the runes onto the floor there. The hungry rumbles from the wolf had ruined two different runes already when he heard them again Wymic growled to him (echoed by the beast) and turned to gather food for the wolf. Various failing potions had fed the wolf many magical creature parts and now the beast seemed immune to magic that normally would have made it mute. Wymic had tried to silence the creature earlier and it had failed with quite a few growls and sparking magic.

Now Wymic mind was not really on what he was doing both from the tiredness of his work on the ritual circle and the chaos within his mind. He stepped up to the wolf's cage and dropped a large bowl of meat into the cage. The wolf snapped and bit the hand that fed him. Wymic freed his hand and wrapped it up carefully so it wouldn't bleed. A silver gleam could be seen within the would by the boys watching from above but Wymic never noticed. He turned back to his work not really minding the ferociousness of the wolf; he would make a good guardian to his home. When all but the closing rune was in place Wymic once again retired for the night. His body ached with from his work and the feeling he had the flu; not that it would stop his work the next night.

The boys left again back for the village. Convenient bags were used to capture all but one mated pairs of the Runespoors on their return. They would make a good stew never mind the extra heads. The strange magic used to create them was still active in their bodies. A few generations later would see a number of families gaining the abilities to speak to snakes. A certain Slytherin would come from this village many centuries later. A foreigner to the area was seen taking the mated pair of Runespoors into a basket. He would take these creatures to his faraway home.

Now here the story becomes unclear for the village made it a policy to avoid Wymic's home but especially on the night of the full moon. However one of the boys who had watched before had bragged to his hopeful to be girlfriend; the two decided to head up to watch the weird wizard that night. This is what they say they saw.

Wymic stood in the circle as the moon rose. The final rune had been placed and the moon's light shone on the ritual area brightly. Wymic stood nude with runes covering his body; runes painted with a potion that contained human blood and aconite. Shudders and shakes shook his body as the virus took its toll. Suddenly when the moon was shining the brightest cracks and scream could be heard from Wymic. His body seemed to stretch and shrink differently from his norm, fur raced to grow across his skin as his jaw and nose merged and pushed out from his face. His ears shifted up to toward the top of his head as his spine rippled behind him. Where once was man now stood the very first werewolf though it would be some time before it would be called that. For the first name he held was actually Wymic the Wyrdewolf. But that is a tale for another day.


End file.
